Cold Crimson
by Marcondiuw
Summary: None of the enemies in Mallet Island were a challenge for Dante. None, except an azure knight. And for the azure knight, red was a color he would not soon forget. AU; set on the third battle with Nelo Angelo in the first Devil May Cry; Some OOC regarding Nelo Angelo/Vergil, and perhaps Dante.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: Long time without writing anything, and like before, this is something that was sitting unfinished on my archives (sadly, without a title, which is a part that I always seem to struggle with). Well, I had this idea a long (read 2-3 years, at least; even I not sure) ago when I first came across a fan comic that sadly, I don't remember the title or the author. Perhaps someone (or even the author) stumble on this and can tell me the name of the author of the comic. I'll tell you guys what I remember of it on the last chapter. This is a short story broke up into three chapter. I'll upload the second and third chapter still on this year. Basically, it's set on the first DMC, and features an alternative universe. Well, last time I checked, they have done the same thing to the series, so I'm allowed a little side tracking too, right? Anyway, enough rambling.

"This is a character speaking" and _this is a character thinking_, just to clarify.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Devil May Cry.

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**Cold Crimson**

**1**

The sound of sword clashing echoed on the hall. Fast breathing and small grunts could be heard as blood spurred from wounds. Dante was tired, but more than that, he was surprised.

"So, is that what you wanted? Is that the reason you threw yourself on that abyss?" He reflexive blocked a dashing slash, being glad that the memories from the time they trained still seemed fresh.

The azure knight before him clutched his head, letting out a growl. His armor was stained red from the blood of his enemy. "Yeah, that's right. I know you wouldn't be Mundus' bitch by choice. C'mon, fight it! I know you have the strength. Or else I'll have to beat you senseless!"

Dante sprinted, his sword ready to deliver a Stinger. The attack connected, his demonic form flashing as thunder flew from his weapon. His opponent was sent backward, doing a somersault and landing on his feet. He dashed for another horizontal slash, but Dante was already waiting for such move and jumped, avoiding the attack. He heard a swift sound and before he could curse, he felt the blade of his enemy shattering his left clavicula, the attack almost ripping his entire arm off midair. The opponent backflipped as soon as his sword hit the ground, landing with grace. He them provoked the enemy, and the white haired man responded with a chuckle.

"Heh… I thought you were above that, you snobby bastard…" He could no longer feel his left arm, his blood painting the sword of his enemy. Slowly, he got back on his feet. "Well, well… Still won't attack a downed opponent, huh… You're still there, aren't you…?" The knight answered with a fireball, which Dante easily threw aside with a swing of his sword.

Rolling to the side, he avoided the shower of magic swords, jumping as soon as he was up. He could hear the sound of glass shattering as the swords created with his adversary's energy hit one another. "_You haven't changed at all, did you… The same attack patterns…_"

As soon as he landed, he blocked the attack of his opponent. Staring back to the glowing red eyes, Dante could see a glimpse of his enemy's former self. "It's about time you wake up… VERGIL!" His enemy showed hesitation for a second. Taking this opportunity, Dante reflected his enemy's sword and used another Stinger with full strength. He rolled to the side and avoided an aerial strike from his brother who vanished in a bluish fire, reappearing on the other side of the room. He slowly began to approach the devil hunter.

"Predictable as always…" Dante got up, moving the fingers on his left arm a little while feeling the tissue on his shoulder reconnect. The process was taking longer than it should. "_Good thing I was using my Devil Trigger, or else I wouldn't have my left arm anymore…_ Tell me, Vergil… Is all this power worth it?" His normally mocking face has turned serious. "To throw away who you are… Tell me, are you satisfied? Is that what you wanted, brother…? ANSWER ME, VERGIL!"

A growl that seemed to shout "shut up" echoed as the azure knight vanished in blue fire. Before Dante could react, he felt a horizontal cut on his abdomen, followed by a vertical one. As he was lunched on the air, pain screamed from his right arm as the sword of his enemy hit it, making he let go of his weapon. He hit the ground with his head, his face kissing the floor. As he got up, he was hit by a swift kick, followed by a punch strong enough to pierce his chest. His heart began to burn and before his brain could process, he felt an unbearable pain as an explosion tossed him back, falling on the stairs. The blood that spurred turned the azure knight into a crimson one.

"Shit… You always were… the fastest one, weren't you…?" A half smirk formed on Dante's face. He has been close to death in others occasions, but this time he knew it wasn't like before. Yamato was built to destroy demons, and infused with Mundus's power, he knew it wouldn't let his wounds heal properly. He could hear the bell tolling. "I guess… you really did it this time…"

His enemy looked to his own hand, the blood staining the otherwise blue glove in a vivid red. He covered half of his face, recalling forgotten memories. "Dan…te…"

"Hey, man… Been a while, hasn't it? Heh, took you… long enough, haven't it… And to think that I thought… that you were the smarter one…"

"Dan…TEE!" A bluish thunder roared on the hall as the armor slowly broke. Nelo Angelo let go of his sword and clutched his head with both hands, falling on his knee. "What… what have I… done?"

"You sparred… a little rough… this time… brother…" Dante coughed blood, a smirk plastered on his face. "But it's good… to have you back… You look terrible, by the way…" Vergil looked confused to his brother, and then noticed his whole body was drenched on blood.

"_This blood… It is father's…_ Dante… hang on!" He rushed to his brother's side, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't tell me you're dying from these little wounds alone! Where's that strength you used to beat me at the Temin-ni-gru?!" The normally stoic face showed signs of distress for the first time in a long while.

"It's… with you now… Go, brother… and fuck Mundus real good this time, 'kay?" He closed his eyes with a smile on his face. Vergil shook him a few times before giving up. Replacing his usually stoic face with a determined one, he reach out for his brother's pendent, a gift from their mother. "Don't worry, brother… I swear I'll make him pay…"

He got up and grabbed Yamato, who had become a katana once more. Without wiping the blood that stained his sword, he sheathed the blade and reached out for Force Edge. "_Father… For this one time… lend me your strength to make right what was wronged…_" Putting the blade on his back, he grabbed the twin handguns that his brother loved so much. He turned and left for the Netherworld, his beaten azure trench coat stained with crimson red, turning it into a dark violet tone.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

A fine dust lightly illuminated by a lava-like substance that was pouring from the ground surrounded him. Beyond that, darkness and floating debris as far as the eye could see. The violet warrior knew this place all too well. It was there that his pride was completely shattered. He had fought the Demon Emperor once, and came out with his pride broken after almost dying. He only survived because his enemy wanted to savor the moment. On his second attempt, he made it to this place; the area where Mundus was thrown after being cast out of Heaven. There, he came up with the idea of turning him into a puppet. He wasn't strong enough to resist and fell victim to his power, becoming a corrupted toy.

"How the mighty Sparda blood has fallen…" He remembers the demon speaking as his conscious was fading. "But do not stress over, little one… I will let you attain your post as my pet insect, so you can always remember your place."

Seeing the almighty Mundus breathing heavily, wings broken and face scarred, Vergil couldn't help but let out a small smirk. "Where's your determination now, Mundus?" His response was a fireball, which the warrior easily deflected back to his face.

Mundus attempted to grab him, but a quick slash with Sparda and the Emperor's hand was cut off. The scream accompanied the sound of an explosion as Vergil's fireball hit his enemy with full strength. In a fit of rage, the fallen angel tried to smash his opponent, but he easily side stepped. Jumping on his arm, the violet warrior stabbed Mundus's hand and ran along his arm, jumping towards his enemy and stabbing it in the eye, following with a slash.

A violet explosion dimly illuminated the area as Vergil spread the same wings as his father and began to use Million Stabs in midair. He then kicked Mundus in the chest, thrown backwards with the impact. The distance was quickly covered by the warrior as he used Stinger to pierce the area where the heart of his enemy would be. A mass of dark energy began to form and an explosion echoed through the silent darkness of the Void. Nearly half of Mundus's head was lost, replaced by a withering mass with two eyes, one of them on the forehead. The son of Sparda kicked back, attacking with a scythe as he spanned back, making an upward diagonal slash to the right. He followed with a vertical attack and a downward, diagonal slash to the left, finishing with another fireball that tore a somewhat triangular hole on the torso of the giant statue. He dashed, with a halberd in hand, piercing the living flesh. A distorted scream shattered the air around them.

"Pathetic… And to think you call yourself the "prince of darkness"… You're not even worthy to be called my opponent." The metallic voice echoed, filling the emptiness of the area.

"You arrogant wretch… The only reason you're alive is because I let you live!" With a mighty scream, a white blast emanated from his body. Vergil was thrown backwards, uninjured. A mass of withering flesh was oozing out of the hand and face of Mundus, the eye at the face extending and the flesh at the hand taking a mockery form of a hand. Grotesque extensions of the flesh were making their way out of the chest.

"Then I guess you are a masochist who enjoys being humiliated…" As the emperor tried to grab him with his good arm, a violet sword pierced his hand, trapping it on a nearby floating rock. The warrior lifted his halberd as the bladed extended. He quickly brought it down, tearing the arm off his enemy. He screamed, quickly charging a fireball with his fleshy hand. Three violet swords pierced his hand at different angles, making the spell stop. When the fallen angel noticed, he was surrounded by violet swords that formed a tower around him. "You already lost, "your majesty"… Showtime." Before Mundus could reply, Vergil snapped his fingers and a myriad of summoned swords pierced the emperor at multiples places, pinning it down.

"You're just a pathetic human! How you dare try to stan-"

"Shut up." A dark red greatsword impaled the enemy in the head. Blood was dripping from the hand and abdomen of Vergil. "May your essence be eternally bound to this forgotten place, and your name fall into oblivion and never be whispered again." A whirlwind began to form as the warrior spanned the scythe on his hand. Crimson red sigils formed around the decaying behemot in front of the gray haired warrior. He flew upwards and fell in a blinding speed downwards, piercing the eye at the forehead of the emperor, the blade of his weapon burying deep on the decaying flesh. Vergil fired two fireballs at point blank with full strength, jumping backwards.

"Daemonicus sigillum!" As Vergil clasped his hands together, the sigils began to shine in a dark red tone and stone began to reform around Mundus, the myriad swords still stuck in his body.

The dark red tone was replace by a bright light, engulfing the place, and when it faded, Vergil was back at the cathedral. He could no longer feel the presence of Mundus. The bluish veins at his face returned to normal, and his eyes turned back to an icy, azure tone. A beautiful woman was lying on the ground, at the center of the place. There were cuts and bruises on different places, the blood was clotted. He approached the woman, and for a split second, his gaze melted from the usually cold demeanor into a caring one. He placed his hand to the side of the delicate face. At his touch, the woman lazily half-opened her eyes.

"It's over… You can rest in peace now… M-"

"Da…Dante…?" A small drop of water came out of her eyes. She wanted to caress the face in front of her, but as she slowly lifted her arm, a harsh hand held it. The eyes that held love suddenly turned cold, distant. But beyond the harsh gaze, she could see a great sense of guilty, a sadness that bore grief, and a loneness that was long forgotten reemerging. She wondered how she could identify things she never felt before as her consciousness faded. The man in front of her stood up.

The place began to crumble. With Mundus sealed deep on the Void, his dimensional domain was beginning to fall. Vergil stood in front of the woman with the same features as his mother. The first time he saw it, he was confused. She glared at him with such anger, but he noticed that the rage was not entirely directed at him. There was a hint of self-loathing, of confusion, of sadness, perhaps. A small emotional storm that is characteristic of a human, not of a demon, like she definitely was. They battled it, and when he landed the last blow, he heard her whispering a single line.

"Forgive me… Dante…" She felt on the ground, and as her eyes slowly closed, Vergil could clearly see that even she didn't understand why she said that.

"Pathetic, defective doll." The voice of the Demon Emperor echoed at the white cathedral. "To think that it could develop such flaws… This explains why you have been refusing my orders of killing Dante. Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to mimicry that despicable whore so much. What a waste of material." As a red arrow flew towards Trish, Vergil held it with a single hand.

"… What did you say?" A violet aura began to envelop him as his eyes began to glow. The calm gaze became filled with anger as he smashed the arrow and he pulled Sparda. "That's the reason you wanted my mother's memories?" His hand began to glow. "Father, you tried so hard to protect her, and yet I betrayed you… Please, forgive me. But with you at my side, I promise that this time, I WILL destroy him!" He launched a fireball at the statue and the place shattered as he was dragged to the Void where Mundus's essence was exiled.

The throne in front of him shattered, bringing Vergil out of his reverie. This demon with an angel face was able, even if for a brief moment, to understand what it is to be human. He decided that she deserves a chance to see the world with those eyes. The eyes that are able to shed tears for those it cares. He lifted her and began to leave the place. For some reason, he felt that his Mother would be proud of him. And, for a second, he allowed himself a small smile.

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**A/N: **In case someone is wondering, I don't know latin. So, you can laugh at my simplistic, and perhaps wrong, attempt to use it. Oh well. Final chapter tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

"-ight?! Ma'am, wake up!" The voice sounded scared, and a little worried. Trish suddenly opened her eyes, and the man at her side backed away, falling on the ground. She sat up, looking to the sides. She was on a beach. It was early morning, the sun was still coming out.

"You're such a scary cat, darling… Ma'am, are you okay?" A woman approached and crouched beside her. She still was at a safe distance, though.

"_How did I got here…? And, where's Da-" _She suddenly stopped her line of thought. There was a strange feeling (sadness…?) inside of her, and her eyes became watery for some reason.

"Ma'am, are you hurt?" The voice made Trish snap out of her thoughts. She looked to the side and mustered strength to make a small smile.

"N-no, I'm alright, thank you." She began to get up. "I… came here yesterday night to… sightsee and I guess I must've fallen asleep." She let out a small chuckle. The woman looked at her in a strange way.

"Okay… Well, be more careful. It's not safe to sleep outside like that. Take care." The woman let out an educated smile and slight bowed. Trish returned the gesture.

As she was walking away, she noticed a small boy clutching the woman's leg. "Is the lady going to be okay?"

The woman crouched and patted the boy on the head. "Don't worry about her, my dear. Now, want to make a sand castle?" She let out a comforting smile.

An innocent smile spread on the boy's face. "Yay! Let's make a very big castle!" Trish couldn't help but let out a small smile and have a warn feeling that she didn't understand.

For a split second, she saw herself playing with two small children. They were identical, and both had grey hair. A crushing feeling came on her chest as she remembered the events of the Mallet Island. She remembered seeing Dante for the first time. They worked together in a few cases, under orders from Mundus. He wanted her to gain Dante's trust, then she would bring him to the island so he could be sacrificed and the seal finally broken.

Originally, she was supposed to help him only for a week or two, but something deep inside of her wanted to be with him longer. She extended the period for two months, telling to Mundus and to herself that the reason was because she felt that Dante still didn't trust her completely.

Finally, after she brought him to the island, Mundus ordered her to help Phantom kill him, but she refused, saying to him and to herself that the reason was that Phantom should be able to handle Dante alone. She said the same thing about Griffon, Nightmare and Nelo Angelo. She was surprise that Mundus used the last one, and became worried, but only because Dante could break the spell that held Vergil under his command.

At least, that what she said it to herself. Only after finding Dante's body that she understood why she was worried. Only after it was too late to do anything that she regretted not helping Dante, and only after almost dying to Vergil she began to understand why she regretted not helping him. It was his twin brother that appeared to her, and saved her. No matter how much she wanted to change things, there was nothing she could do to about it. As the blond woman walked away, tears began to fall from her eyes.

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The double doors of the small office quietly opened. The place was a lot cleaner than Vergil expected. The desk at the center seemed new, as if was brought not too long ago. He left Ivory and Ebony on it. Looking to the right, there was a Jukebox with a set of vinyl, mostly classic rock albums. Turnig towards the left, he saw a pool table and a drum set, together with a sofa and a TV. "_Strange… Dante never was one to like TV much…_" Vergil remembered the times he and his brother played outside. His brother used to pull pranks every other day, getting scolded a lot by his mother. Sometimes, even Vergil went along in such childish activity. They both kept a regretful face as her mother reprehended both of them, but as soon as she wasn't looking, they sent each other a small smirk.

He entered in the kitchen and took a look on the refrigerator, finding a few beers and a bottle of water. The grey haired man then opened the freezer "Heh… _Frozen pizza and strawberry sundae… Some things never changes…_" He remembers his brother's love for pizza, and how much he annoyed Vergil to split one between the two. He also never understood his brother's sweet tooth. He always loved strawberry sundae and sweet chocolate. Vergil always thought that strawberry sundae is too sweet and favored dark chocolate over all the others. His brother would say that is too bitter and leaves a bad taste on the mouth afterwards, while he would argue that it's healthier and leaves a lasting impression on the taste buds, to which his brother would reply that he should stop studying and sounding pompous, and would often wonder aloud if his brother even understand half of the things he says.

Vergil went to the bathroom and took out his clothes, entering in the shower. He pretended that the water that fell from his face came only from the shower, and not from his eyes. After the bath, he stared at the image on the mirror. The hair was silver, brushed down and the eyes were blue. As he put his hand on his face, he was about to swept his hair back, but stopped. He looked to the face in front of him.

"No… That day… when you felt into the darkness, you forfeited your existence in this world." He let his hair fall, putting his hand over the sink. "Therefore, it was not you who returned…" On the dimly lit bathroom, he thought he could see sadness on the face at the mirror. "But don't worry, brother… I'll come back, one day. Before that, there's still much to do."

He left the bathroom and went upstairs, entering on the bedroom. The place was rather simple. There were a few pin-up posters, a wardrobe, a small desk and a single bed. Over the bed, a familiar sword was stored. He opened the wardrobe and took out a red pants, a red trench coat and a black jacket, wearing then. Afterwards, he picked a pair of black leather boots. He went to the bed and pulled Rebellion out of its place. The sword resonated, both acknowledging that this was not his master, and saluting an old acquaintance, recognizing him as a worthy warrior.

"Thank you. I will live up to it." He took a few swings, remembering a few moves he used to practice as a kid when he borrowed the sword from his brother. He put Yamato on its place.

Going down, he picked up the twin Ivory and Ebony, twirling then on his finger, and firing a few shots on the target up the wall. He was never one to use firearms, believing that a true warrior fights only with his own strength. But for the task he had to accomplish, he would need his brother's help. Of that, he was certain.

Sitting on the chair at the desk, he opened one drawer and a portrait caught his attention. A beautiful blond woman was smiling on it. He looked at it fondly, thinking about the past. The phone on the desk rang, pulling him back to the present. He placed the small portrait at the desk and picked up the phone. The voice at the other side spoke.

"I need repent from a devil."

"Then the Devil May Cry. This is Dante. What is the job?"

"No witty remark this time? Whatever... So, this time, the client..."

He would make sure that the only demons left would be those who can shed tears. Only then, he would be able to go back from the abyss that he threw himself in. His cold azure eyes burned with a warn determination.

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**A/N:** There ya go. Trish may also seem a little OOC, looking now. Hopefully, it wasn't that bad. So, sadly, the only thing I remember of the comic is that the Dante from DMC 2 meets up with Dante from DMC 4. Now, how those two met and why, I don't remember. The part I remember has the Dante from 4 saying something about noticing he is not him, and Dante from 2 answer with a smile, before glowing and starting to vanish. DMC 4 Dante then noticed who he is and, before he can say anything, DMC 2 Dante disappears. The author then state the theory that the Dante we see in DMC 2 is actually Vergil, who somehow assumed his persona out of guilty for killing his brother. I liked that theory and wanted to write about it, but as any other writing on the past years, ended up left to dust over in the FFN archives I have stored, along with another few ones. So, any ideas? Anyway, thanks for reading, and happy 2013!


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